Another result of the chain reaction starting with the stress response stuck in fight-or-flight mode is an all over generalized inflammation. This is actually a low-grade inflammation that results in an achy flu-like feeling.

Inflammation in the immune system responds to tissue injury or foreign invaders like viruses and bacteria. There is evidence for overall mild activation of the immune system in fibromyalgia. Several studies have found high levels of cytokines, chemical messengers of the immune system, in fibromyalgia. This suggests there is the presence of an actual inflammatory response.

Any foreign invader n the body such as a flu or virus is greeting by an army of immune system cells that release chemicals to regulate the process of inflammation. Others have anti-inflammatory detail. The inflammatory cytokines released during an immune response are what actually cause the fatigue and muscle aches experienced during any illness.

The inflammation in fibromyalgia comes from three different pathways that all start with the chronic activation of the fight-or-flight response. First, fascia is in a constant stage of inflammation as the body attempts to repair tissue damage. Second, sleep deprivation itself is known to result in elevated levels of immune cells and inflammatory chemicals such a cytokines. Finally, immune response can be triggered by foreign objects.

Foreign invaders can wreck havoc an an unsuspecting immune system. This can happen as food is broken down into smaller particles in the stomach. These tiny pieces are absorbed through the walls of the intestine into the blood stream. Absorption of nutrients primarily occurs through the cells of the small intestine that have special "doors" that open and shut to allow selected particles through and keep unwanted particles out.

Normally, only very small amounts of particles can slip between these doors of the intestinal walls. But sometimes, certain issues can cause the doors to open more frequently and this is known as "leaky gut syndrome". At this time bacteria, undigested proteins and fats, and other substances can enter the bloodstream and trigger an immune response just as any other foreign invader would receive during an illness. A recent study demonstrated that patients with fibromyalgia have "leakier" intestines that concerned health practitioners. In this study, fibromyalgia patients showed a much higher absorption of substances that normallyshould be too big too fit thorough the walls of theintestine. Actually the "doors" were allowing twice as many large particles through!

These substances when entering the blood stream can provoke an immune response just like any bacteria or virus. This is technically considered an allergy because it is an immune reaction to a normally harmless substance. In fact, allergic myalgia, delayed immune response, was noted in many patients who suffer from fibromyalgia. So not only can you ingest and not tolerate these substances, but you may not know the culprit since it could affect you hours or days after a meal. Sensitivities and allergies to such foods and chemicals can result in muscle aches, pain, and fatigue. By targeting the culprits you can save your own immune response and live an all-over healthier lifestyle.

There's new research that the fascia, connective tissue which binds the muscles, causes the muscle pain in fibromyalgia. This is not a new idea. In fact, 1904 a physician proposed that inflammation of "white fibrous tissue" that surrounds the muscles was the source of fibromyalgia pain then called fibrosis or chronic rheumatism. Many fibromyalgia sufferers further these studies by stating, "It hurts on the outside of my muscles not the inside."

Fascia is connective tissue fibers, primarily collagen, that form sheets or bands beneath the skin to attach and separate muscles and other internal organs. Fascia are classified according to their distinct layers, their functions and their anatomical location: superficial fascia, deep (or muscle) fascia, and visceral (or parietal) fascia. Like ligaments and tendons, fascia are connective tissues, containing closely packed bundles of collagen fibers. Fascia are consequently flexible structures able to resist great tension forces until the wavy pattern of fibers has been straightened out by the pulling force. These collagen fibers are produced by the fibroblasts located within the fascia.Fascia are similar to ligaments and tendons as they have collagen as their major component. They differ in their location and function: ligaments join one bone to another bone, tendons join muscle to bone, and fascia surround muscles or other structures. This connective tissue around muscle is highly sensitive to pain. In fact, the fascia is about as sensitive to pain as our skin. Needles inserted into the thick outer layer of fascia surrounding the muscle hurt more than needles poked into muscle tissue itself.

The cells of fascia direct the repair process of muscle by secreting more collagen, or "goo" that attracts immune cells to the area of damage. The muscle tissue and especially the surrounding fascia is continually engaged in a process of damage and repair. Fibroblasts are continually repairing the collagen network in which they live, just like a spider repairs its web. Excess collagen and scar tissue can result. This is why some massage therapists will say to their patients, "You're fascia feels tight and thick."

People with fibromyalgia often say their muscles feel "bruised" similar to muscle soreness. One study found that an increase in collagen to the fascia may be the culprit. Comparing specially stained muscle biopsies, researches described a "slight, but significant, increase in collagen surrounding the muscle cells of the fibromyalgia patients."

Chronic activation of the flight-or-flight response may be promoting tension in the fascia of the muscles and lead to tissue damage. Studies show elevated pressures inside the muscles of fibromyalgia may reflect a flight-or-flight nervous system. Muscles and fascia may be constantly tensed in fight-or-flight mode and more prone to injury and damage than just from our usual daily activities.

Fascial dysfunction and inflammation may be the cause of wide-spread muscle pain in fibromyalgia. Excess tension in the fascia due to activation of the fight-or-flight system may lead to excessive tissue damage, similar to over-exercised muscles. Too boot, lack of sleep, a critical time for body tissue repair and remolding, does not provide adequate repair time for strained and damaged fascia.

What a delightful film showing how one woman overcomes adversity by putting her innate talents to work winning prize money for her brood of 10.

Kelly and Evelyn Ryan live in Defiance, Ohio with their 10 children. At first glance their life seems idyllic; they call each other "Mother" and "Father" and seem to dote on the kids. But Kelly was a garage-band crooner whose voice was ruined in an auto accident. He's resigned to a dead-end factory job that barely pays the bills, and is given to fits of alcohol-induced rage. Evelyn, a stay-at-home wife and mother, deals with this abuse by appealing to her priest, who is no help at all. She deals with their poverty by entering the jingle contests that were the rage in the 50's and early 60's, even sending in multiple entries in the names of the children. She is very clever at it, winning more than her share of prizes, but her successes aren't enough to keep the wolf from the door. Further, they trigger Kelly's insecurities and he retreats deeper into the bottle, using food and mortgage money to support the habit. Can the loving, optimistic Evelyn hold the family together? Is she justified in placing her faith in the deeply-flawed Kelly? How will the children turn out? This underrated film provides an inspirational answer to these questions.- Written by Joe Jurca

Research indicates that fibromyalgia involves a malfunction in the stress and pain responses within the body. Over activation of the stress response starts the chain reaction that leads to poor sleep, muscle pain, and fatigue. This show reason to believe that symptoms of fibromyalgia stem from abnormal function of the fight-or-flight nervous system.

You can't get deep sleep because the brain is trying to stay alert to fend off that danger (that isn't really there). Lack of sleep causes fatigue and prevents adequate growth hormone release. Without essential amounts of the growth hormone your body can't repair and process tissue repair correctly and that leads to pain.

These new pain signals travel to the brain and overwhelm the nervous system which causes it to become hyper-reactive to pain. With all this bombardment, the nervous system begins interpreting pain signals incorrectly and that leads to irritability of even the lightest touch that is experienced as REAL pain.

This stress response is the body's alarm reaction. It is not under conscious control; it is controlled in the deep primal parts of the brain. So you don't have to be thinking about responding to stress; it is a reflex. The hypothalamus, a gland deep in the brain, directs the stress response. It is believed from recent research that the culprit may have been started right here. Somehow the hypothalamus is unable to turn that switch back off.

The hypothalamus is the master of control. It regulates the release of adrenaline and controls the autonomic nervous system which regulates: blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, digestion, and urination. This is the essential autopilot that keeps your system running smooth. I am almost certain you've experienced an issue with one of the above organs at one time or another.

Because of this fight-or-flight response that is "stuck on" fibromyalgia symptoms become so over-activated that it becomes less able to respond to actual stressors. This phenomenon is sometimes labeled as "adrenal fatigue" by alternative health care practitioners.

You can see why many people are seeking alternative treatments before becoming inundated with one prescription after another to mask new symptoms popping up regularly. Check back here each week for alternate treatments to try. We are all different! You never know which one will work best for you!

This is a great historical fiction account set in the Civil War era. Tragedy strikes a family while one woman must weather the storm. Throughout this novel you'll never be sure if Ruth's sane or driven by a horrible secret. It will propel you right to the end until the exact truth is told.

“[A] gripping psychological thriller . . . In the winter of 1919, a young mother named Mathilda Neumann drowns beneath the ice of a rural Wisconsin lake. The shock of her death dramatically changes the lives of her daughter, troubled sister, and husband. . . . Told in the voices of several of the main characters and skipping back and forth in time, the narrative gradually and tantalizingly reveals the dark family secrets and the unsettling discoveries that lead to the truth of what actually happened the night of the drowning. . . . Schwarz certainly succeeds at keeping the reader engrossed.”FRANCINE PROSE

It is down right tough living with an illness no one seems to know much about. In fact, it has been proven, the more you know about what is causing the various symptoms you are experiencing, the better quality of life you will have. Yet, nothing can be more despondent than visiting your practitioner with a new list of symptoms only to be told what new medications can relieve them without the added knowledge of how to prevent them.. Let's face it, medications have side effects, and these can often out weigh the benefits leaving us lifeless and listless as the days move on.

So, what does medical science really know about fibromyalgia? I can tell you that over the past decade researches have established dysfunction in sleep, pain, and the stress response. Yet, even with all the current objective evidence, you may still land a doctor who does not believe it is real. Should this happen, move on quickly to another practitioner!

Yet here are the major milestones that have been studied

Abnormalities of the stress response in the nervous system. There are various ways our CNS responds to stimuli. It is believed that fibromyalgia is stuck in the "fight-or-flight" mode and can't flip the switch off.

Disrupted sleep patternshave been noted in sleep disorders associated with fibromyalgia. The major abnormality studied is a reduction in the amount and quality of deep sleep. Abnormal brain waves frequently interrupt deep sleep in fibromyalgia patients, resulting in poor sleep that is non-restorative.

Low growth hormone levels in adulthoodis responsible for regulating the repair and maintenance of muscle and is primarily secreted during deep sleep and after exercise. Multiple studies have shown that patients with fibromyalgia have inadequate growth hormone release.

Pain processing dysfunction is noted in fibromyalgia. Studies show that the nervous system is hyper-reactive to stimuli. This means pain hurts more - hot is hotter, loud is louder, and so on. This process is called central sensitization. This means that the nervous system turns up the volume on any input it receives.

This is a very basic overview of what is happening in your body. In this blog you'll find ways of being proactive working with the core that is processing these signals rather than masking them. Getting active, restorative sleep is one of the first benefits you can give yourself. System checks throughout the day keep your body in check not allowing the heighten overwhelming feeling that can accompany you at the end of the day. Check back through past archives to see how to combat this constant stress we are often unaware of that batters us daily.

Here's a great flick to lose yourself an unwind this weekend. Sit back and relax watching a good 'ol country setting unfold as Faith begins a self-awareness journey highlighting the importance of family ties.

With her husband jailed for Wall Street fraud, Faith leaves her life of luxury behind to return to rural North Carolina and the father and sister she'd left behind. A love between a father and his daughter, it parallels the famous parable, "The Prodigal Son". - IMDb

What a delightful movie with an divine message. Watch this one to gain a renewal in spirit.

In 1936, William and Helen Hemsley (Brian Geraghty, Amanda Crew) welcome identical twin boys into the world. But their joy is quickly tempered by a sobering realization; how could they give these children any kind of a life beyond the desperate poverty that haunted many families in the midst of the Great Depression? When evangelist Reece Wade (Ray Liotta) reveals that he and his wife Louise (Ashley Judd) cannot have children, William feels the Lord's prompting to give them one of the infant boys. Both brothers are born with passion, drive and awesome musical talent, but take very separate, yet converging paths. Drexel Hemsley (Blake Rayne) rises like a comet and changes the music world forever. His adopted brother, Ryan Wade (also played by Blake Rayne) struggles to find the purpose for his life. All the way into manhood he wrestles with pleasing Reverend Wade, his loving but controlling father, who is convinced his son Ryan is called into the ministry. Ryan is encouraged by his loving and supportive wife Jenny (Erin Cottrell) and lifelong friends Dino and Avi (Seth Green, Joe Pantoliano) to follow his musical dreams. And oh, can he sing, just like his world famous twin! "The Identical" is a captivating journey spanning five decades from the 1930's through the 1970's. This story is about the restoration and the reconciliation of a family broken apart by culture, creed and tradition. Movie-going audiences will be drawn to this timeless tale of love, hope, and redemption that speaks to all generations. - IMDb

Nothing is better than live streaming when you want a great flick to bring some much needed down time. Here, at Your Fibro Support, we always include a super movie or good read to ensure you meet your daily reprieve requirements.

A strong-willed woman recruits a loathsome drifter to help transport three insane women across the unforgiving Nebraska Territories so that they may find sanctuary with a compassionate minister and his wife in this drama directed and co-written by Tommy Lee Jones. Driven to madness by the harsh realities of pioneer life, three women (Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, and Sonja Richter) living on the outskirts of the American frontier are rescued from certain death by pious Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank), who selflessly takes on the task of transporting them to safety. Along the way, Mary Bee encounters a low-life named George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) with his head in a noose. In exchange for helping her transport the women, Mary Bee frees the scruffy stranger, and together the group heads east. In the course of their arduous journey, however, they will encounter ruthless bandits and vengeful Native Americans. Meanwhile, the greatest test to their resolve may be the harsh winter that's blowing in fast. Meryl Streep, John Lithgow, Hailee Steinfeld, William Fichtner, Tim Blake Nelson, and James Spader co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Let's face it. It seems that sufferers of fibromyalgia get sick more often than most folk. That's because research reveals that CFS/ME is strongly associated with lowered immune function. Boosting immunity helps contain and eliminate associated viruses that include: Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus, mononucleosis, and other herpes viruses.

The current state of our immune system determines our state of health. When our immune system is strong and functioning well, we tend to feel healthier. When it is compromised, we become susceptible to all sorts of illnesses that are usually opportunistic organisms for most folk.

Pathogens (disease-producing microorganisms) are ever present in our environment. They're everywhere: in the air we breathe, in the food we eat, and on the surfaces we touch daily. In fact if each of us had our skin, throat, or other mucous membranes cultured, most of us would find they contain numerous pathogens. At any given time, 5 to 40 percent of us have pneumococcus bacteria in our nose and throat, yet we rarely develop pneumonia because our immune system keeps these pathogens under control.

With fibromyalgia your immune system is already compromised, so it is important to keep it working at peak condition. One way is to reduce or eliminate sugar and other simple carbohydrates. Ingesting sugar reduces white blood cell activity. In fact one tablespoon of sugar in any form - white sugar, honey, or even fruit juice - results in a 50% reduction of white blood cells for up to five hours.

In fact one tablespoon of sugar in any form - white sugar, honey, or even fruit juice - results in a 50% reduction of white blood cells for up to five hours. Dr. Joseph Pizzorno

Sugar also depletes the body of B vitamins, calcium, and magnesium. The average American consumes over 150 oz. of sugar daily. A can of coke alone has between nine and ten teaspoons of sugar. This is at least three tablespoons!